Area woman to tackle challenging Badwater Ultramarathon

Marathoners are a rare breed indeed, running more than 26 miles in a matter of hours.

Imagine running five times that distance without stopping.

Imagine doing so through the hottest temperatures in the country.

Imagine that trek beginning at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere then ending in the thin air of the highest spot in the continental United States.

That it what Mary Kashurba and a select group of other ultramarathon runners intend to accomplish later this month.

Kashurba has been accepted to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon beginning Tuesday in Death Valley, Calif.

She said it is hard to answer why she wanted to take on the challenge.

"I honestly don't know," she said.

"I can't answer that any more than someone can tell you why you fall in love with a certain person. I just knew I had to do the race from the time I read about it. Š

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"From the time I started running, I had read something about this and it's kind of been my fantasy run since then.

"I've read books and seen a documentary film.

"It's just awe-inspiring. I just hoped some day I'd be able to qualify and do it."

Kashurba said the race application included a number of essay questions, including, "Why you wanted to do the race. What was your most challenging experience in an ultramarathon? What was your weirdest experience in an ultra? What do you expect your finishing time to be and why? Why should they let you have a space at the starting line?"

Kashurba is one of about 75 accepted applicants who will participate.

According to the event's press release, runners will traverse 135 miles through temperatures approaching 130 degrees.

The Badwater course covers three mountain ranges for a total of 13,000 feet of vertical ascent and 4,700 feet of descent.

Badwater, Death Valley, marks the lowest elevation in the United States at 280 feet below sea level.

The race finishes at the Mount Whitney Portals, the trailhead to the Mount Whitney summit, at nearly 8,300 feet.

"The reason that this whole race got started was somebody looked at the map," Kashurba said, "and saw the lowest point in the United States is only 130 miles from the highest point."

Runners are to be accompanied by crews and supply vans to help them through the race.

Kashurba said she met one of her crew members during a 100-mile race in Kansas.

"I ended up running with this other woman," Kashurba said. "It turned out we had everything in common."

That woman is Anita Fromm, who invited Kashurba to be part of her crew when she ran the Badwater Ultra last year.

Kashurba said she ran about 70 miles of the race alongside Fromm.

"That allowed me to see the organization of your crew van is essential,"

Kashurba said, "as well as to see how I would do in the heat."

Kashurba's husband, Rich Gambino, and their children, Alex, Joe and Sophie, will also accompany her.

She said they plan to run with her at times.

"My kids are all hoping to do little bits of the race with me, even if it's at night, because I don't want them out in the heat of the day."

Kashurba said the National Park Service limits the number of people and vehicles on the road the course covers, so that is why the number of competitors is limited.

Runners are given 60 hours to finish the race and those who do so within 48 hours are awarded a special belt buckle.

The most anybody gets is a belt buckle," Kashurba said.

"I definitely want to go under 48 because I want the belt buckle."

Gambino said the buckle is a major trophy in the ultramarathon world.

"In the ultra-running world, people would recognize it," he said. "That's quite an accomplishment."

The race's records are mind-boggling.

The men's record was set by Russian Anatoli Kruglikov in 2000 at 25:09:05, about 5.4 miles per hour. American Pam Reed set the women's record of 27:56:47 (4.83 MPH) in 2002.

Kashurba said some runners actually reach the finish line then turn around and run the course again.

Kashurba said part of her training regimen includes spending an hour or so in a sauna then running while wearing rain gear to simulate the high temperatures she will endure.

While she tries to simulate the desert heat during training, deflecting the heat is the name of the game when running the race.

To that end, runners wear lightweight white outfits that include a sun protection factor of 30.

"We wear the funny little white suits and everything," Kashurba said. "They keep you from burning and you're actually cooler if you keep the sun off your skin."

Runners also wear hats with a shield around the back to protect the neck.

"What I call the French foreign legion hats with the thing around the back," Kashurba said.

Though Kashurba and the other runners will not earn money for their exploits, she hopes to raise donations for a cause that hits close to home.

Kashurba said her father suffers from a rare form of bone cancer,

Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, and she is accepting donations to help find a cure.

She said any donations would be passed on to the International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation.